Sworn to Royalty
by partyyou
Summary: Ren is an 18 year old Gerudo, and after being sent to Hyrule Castle for a 'crucial meeting' with the King, she meets a competitive ranch-girl, an annoying horse-boy who doesn't know when to shut up, and most importantly, hunger. first fanfic! R&R please! Link/OC, One-sided Malink, Possibly one-sided Zelink.
1. Chapter 1

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A gerudian life

Chapter 1

"Captain Ren, Nabooru wishes to be graced by your presence," a Gerudo announced to me.

"I will see her immediately, thank you," I respond politely. She bowed and went back to her duties. _Why must she have such formalities? I know I'm Nabooru's daughter, but still, we're both Gerudos._

I guess I should explain a little about us. We're a group of females, and we call ourselves the Gerudo Pirates. We live in Gerudo Desert, Hyrule. My mother is the leader and I have no idea who my father is for Gerudos only copulate and then retreat without further means of a relationship. We are a strictly an all-female tribe, well, the only exemption is a male born every 1,000 years, but that's a story for another time—back to the summoning of me to my mother.

"Come in," a cooing from behind the door sounds. I step in quietly and close the door behind.

"Hello, Mother." I hate calling her that, why can't I just call her Nabooru for a change, rather than further dividing me from our people.

"Let's cut the crap and get to the point—," Ah mother, always so kind. "You need to make a trip to Hyrule Castle for this message, make sure it gets to the king, it is_crucial_."

"If I must," I say this as if it was some disgusting chore; if I approached the matter with enthusiasm she would give it to another captain in spite of them being calm and collective over the rambunctious animated high spirits. The truth is, I was dying of excitement on the inside.

A gerudian life

Chapter 2

I was prepared and excited. I got to go to Hyrule Castle! The night was a beautiful time for travel. Any night really would have been wonderful. Be it humid and hot or dry and cold, the skies were always clear and free of clouds allowing a perfect view of the stars.

The stars shine brightly on the path I blaze. I love everything about it. As I walk further, the sand beneath my feet grows into lavish green blades of grass, the flat lands grow round and little specks of what I suspect to be trees appear on the horizon.

The smell of the land even changes. The desert has more of a dusty-sandy smell, very dry as well. The air is sharp and meant for only those who can endure extreme heat. This place, the field of Hyrule, it has a much more crisp and clean aroma to it. Strong earthy smells tickle my nose and every so often I see a beautiful bird. Life is beautiful in these parts. I smile and release a small laugh as I see one of the birds sit in its nest and feed its small chicks.

I halt my walking. I hold my stomach as a loud gurgle sounds from it. In the excitement of the quest, I seemed to have forgotten to bring food. My stupidity makes me palm my face. My legs hurt and my back is calling for sleep. I'm not even half way to the castle, yet I have been traveling all night.

"No! Wait Epona, c'mon it was an accident! I'm serious—ugh!" I hear a voice call out with a thud. It is strange, it is like mine, only deeper.

I hear a horse's neigh and then loud, thundering hooves on the ground. I turn to the source of the noise and see a horse barreling towards me. Acting on impulse I jump to my left, dodging the horse just in time.

"Jeez, Epona, it's not my fault you ate the cuckoos food and they attacked you," a strange looking person calls out to the horse as it races in a small circle.

"What are you?" I question, confusion settling in quick.

"Excuse me, what do you mean by 'what'?" the thing says, defence peaking in its voice, then a look of realization dons its face. "Oh, I get it, you're a Gerudo—never seen a handsome man such as myself before, eh?" he laughs with a sort of confidence oozing from his voice—perhaps him being cocky. Annoyance fuels me. This _thing_ was beginning to get on my nerves—or should I say _man_.

He quickly picks up on my annoyance and tries to redeem himself. "I was only kidding…" He looks to his boots and then back at me. "What are you doing so far from the desert?" he asks trying to change the subject and rid the awkward silence that has engulfed us.

"Message for the king…" I narrow my eyes, not sure to trust him. I take a deep breath and roll my eyes as he keeps his locked on me for a better explanation. "I've been out here for hours," I say with a loud sigh rubbing my aching back.

"We're near a ranch," he points off in a random direction. I choose not to look. "They could let you rest there for the night… maybe even lend you a horse. It would make the trip much quicker," he says with furrowed eyebrows as if wondering how _I_ could have missed the ranch. He then smiles with a slight laugh, "Hey, I could take you—if you like."

I shake my head rapidly. The last thing I need is some young man offering me help and having the Gerudos finding out. "No thanks," I say quickly, "I don't need a _man's_ assistance."

"Oh c'mon," he chuckles, "I can tell you're lying."

I palm my face. I can tell this ridiculous excuse for a man is going to keep pestering me. I sigh and rub the back of my neck. On the other hand, if I don't tell the Gerudos I was aided by him, they would never know the difference. I nod and look to him, "Fine." He lets out a small, cheerful cheer making me glare at him. "How fast can you get us there?" I ask, trying to ignore his excitement.

"Before the mote falls, that's for sure," he nods as he mounts the large horse.

He holds his hand out to me and I ignore it. I grip the saddle behind him and pull myself up effortlessly. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone, understand," I growl in his ear. I can hear him swallow and then he nods. "We Gerudo don't take kindly to your sex." I watch as he brings the horse into a gallop. "My mother would kill me if she knew what I was doing…" I shake my head.

The young man shrugs slightly, "Is she the leader of something—"

I cut him off. "Yes," I say firmly, hoping he won't question me again.

"Oh, well how old are you?" he asked innocently as he veers the reigns so the horse lines up into a straight path to the castle.

I close my eyes to his voice and rub my temples. Some people seem to be made only to pester and annoy others; this person seems to be of that type. I am clearly not in the mood for a conversation—well, _his_ conversation. I take a breath. "Seventeen," I manage through gritted teeth.

"I'm eighteen," he smiled turning his head to me. There is silence for the remainder of the ride. Every so often he charges the horse making me have to grip him awkwardly so I won't fall back. Each time he feels my hands grip his waist I can see him trying to hide a grin.

When the sun has risen and small puffy clouds plague the sky, he finally turns to me with a silly smirk. "We're here," he nods, jumping off the horse and holding his hand out to me for assistance. Now that I think of it, that silly gesture was the determining fact on how this journey was going to be. Had I not taken his hand and left his sight right then and there, perhaps none of this would have happened. Perhaps…

..


	2. Technically Chapter 3 :

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A Gerudo Life

"Well howdy, Link!" a voice calls out, fortunately it is female. "Haven't seen you 'round here in a long time!" I turn to see a young woman. "Who's she?" the girl asks, craning her neck out at me with an eyebrow arched and lips slightly parted in a sort of rude curiosity; just what I need, some ignorant ranch hand to give me looks and think the worst of me, perfect.

"Oh, yeah, this is Ren, Malon, she was hoping she could stay here and get some rest. She came from the desert and traveled all—," Link stopped him as he settled his eyes on me. I couldn't help but glare at him with my lip curled in a near disgust.

For a moment, there is silence. "I wasn't _hoping_," I finally hiss, annoyed. "You _told_ me this would be possible. I never once asked you for—," Malon interrupts me. Din, I hate when people do that.

"I'd be happy to have you stay with us, but it comes with a price," She smiles cheekily. "All guests— my daddy says, must help with chores one way or another," she nods with a little giggle—the kind that you would expect a five year old to manage. I cross my arms and sigh. If I wish to stay here I'm going to have to work, wonderful.

"Fine by me," I smugly say. We held a silent staring contest. It seemed to go on for years, but _she_ was the first to break. We both look back to Link who is nervously standing, even he can feel the tension building between me and the ranch hand.

"Will you be staying too, Link?" she asks, hope gleaming in her question.

"Nah, I got to meet Saria in Kokiri Forest. We have to see how the Deku Tree sprout is doing. Oh!" he smacks his forehead as if trying to smack the dumb out of him. "One more thing," he smiles, "can you lend Ren a horse, she has to travel to the castle and it would make things much more easier for her," he keeps the smile going, but slowly droops it as Malon stares at him blankly.

She take a deep breath and forces herself to giggle lightly, "I'd love to." Her eyes look to the corners of them and give me a mischievous look as Link mounts his horse. She has another thing coming if she thinks I believe her all to kind of words. I've known women like her… always putting up a happy front—until they are alone with the one person they dislike. I narrow my eyes at her and like my lips.

"Well," she says cheerfully, but her facial expressions are quite the opposite. "Let me give you a tour of the place, _Rin_." I raise my eyebrows. She said my name improperly to get a rise out of me. Silly little Hylian, you're going to have to try harder than that.

Lon Lon Ranch is a very simple place. There are stables to the right after entering the little walkway. To the left, strangely, there is a living quarters and cucco coop. I personally have never seen the two so close together. I take a deep breath and shake my head. Cucco, no matter how healthy they are, are still a very dirty animal. Malon leads me further, to a simple corral with horses racing in the open field and track. Just before she speaks, I catch a quick glimpse of the feeding troth.

"How about we play a little game," Malon smiles, this time genuinely. As we reach the small gate to the field, she pushes her long, auburn hair out of her face. "Whoever loses a race around the track with the horses of their choice has to…" Malon had no idea on what to bet on. I choked back a little chuckle.

"…Has to clean the cow stables?" I offer, hoping to have her stop the annoying hum coming from her as she thinks. She gives and exaggerated nod. I smile, "You're on—," I wince, "but I don't have much experience with horses. Can we do something easier?" I lie; of course I had experience with horses, the Gerudos were well known for their horses, for Farore's sake! Though, rarely I got the chance to ride. Nabooru always said it was a good way to damage your wrists—which young or old, if your wrists were damaged, a bow and arrow were useless to you, and shooting arrows was the primary weapon for raids.

"Nope," Malon laughed.

"Fine, let's race," I say sternly seeing not only is she looking for trouble, but she has no sympathy. I cannot help but admire her, she would have been a tremendous Gerudo.

She opens the gate and skips off towards the horse. I pat my hand gently on a chocolate brown horse's forehead. She is calm, and collective, though her eyes are wild and untamed. I turn to see Malon hugging the neck of light almond mare. She brings a saddle to me and drops it to the ground.

"Are you alright saddling her?" she grins slyly.

I nod, "I can try my hand at it. She lets out one more giggle and runs back to her mare and saddles her. I falsely fumble with the saddle. I hear her laugh loudly as the saddle slide to the horse's belly. I give a nervous smile and continue with my fake unfamiliarity. I watch as she mounts her animal and trots towards me.

"Are you ready?" she asks, throwing her hair over her shoulder.

I nod and pretend to have trouble mounting my chosen horse. "Yup," I grunt.

"Alright," she nods back. The expression on her face shows me she believes the race is over and she has already won. She brings the reigns up and shouts; "Go!"

She, due to her sudden start, ends up ahead, but not for long. Soon, I am beside her, petty on her though, she races on the outside after I have weaseled my way between her and the fence along the racetrack. She smacks her horse's side making the mare pick up speed. I take a deep breath and clench my legs under my horse's belly. It's neck and neck; neither of us will pass each other for the horses are an equal match for each other.

I grip my reigns tightly and lean in closer to my horse. Malon does the same, but the mare will not pick up any more speed as my horse slowly but surely gets in front of her. I smile triumphantly; tasting the wind and watching the world around me zoom past. I love riding, I love the euphoria, and I love the freedom it grants me.

I bring the chocolate horse just a little to the left, blocking Malon from any way of passing unless she wished for a face full of tail hair. I hear her grunt from behind. Her riding is well, even her way of veering the horse is filled with talent, but not enough to surpass my expertise.

Somehow, whether it be a cruel joke with the Goddesses, or simply Malon's own skill, she rides up beside me. I turn to her for a moment, shocked, and I am greeted with a cheerful smile. I turn back to the track and see the finish line coming up fast. I rub the horse's neck and then tighten my legs around her once more for a burst of energy. Thankfully, the mare understood my command once more and she bolted past Malon, nearly making me fall back onto the ground.

"I won?" I look around as the horse slows. "I won!" I laughed. Extacy fires in my veins, pure happiness makes me toss my hands in the air. I turn jump off the horse and turn to Malon, trying to hide my joy. "Did I win?" I ask, bring a finger under my lip in a sort of maliciously innocent manner.

"Congratulations," Malon answers, rolling her eyes and then flattening her lips into a thin line. "I thought you said you had no experience with horses," she furrows her eyebrows and crosses her arms.

"Are you calling me a liar?" I ask pointing a finger to my chest with a look of disbelief.

She rolls her eyes and tosses her hair back over her shoulders, "Does it matter?" She shakes her head, "But yeah, you did lie."

"Maybe you're the one who lied," I retorted with narrowed eyes, looking to push her buttons no matter how childish I sounded.

"That don't even make sense!" she hollered, bending with the belch.

I feel my lips curl into a smile. My stomach begins to vibrate and soon I am laghing loudly. Either it being my laughter or my nonsensical response, she leaves, fuming, growling as if she is some kind of angered dog. I take a moment to myself and control my laughter. I take a deep breath and then follow.

"Sorry, okay? I guess I sorta overreacted," Malon apologized half heartily. She tosses a bag of cucco feed over her shoulder. "I just," she shakes her head, "I just don't take to losing too well, alright?"

"No, it was my fault," I say, not truly wanting to take the blame. "I'm the one who antaganized you," I lower my eyes to the ground. She keeps silent, ripping at the seam of the bag and spreading the feed on the grass. I invert my eyebrows and shrug, "Since you're doing the stables, do you want me to feed the cuckoos and horses?"

"It would help out a ton," she half smiles. "Just be careful, this bag is heavy, and the horses will startle if you just toss the hay in their troths. You need to be calm, caring even." She pulls the bag over her shoulder and hands it to me. She honestly does care for the animals at the ranch.

Silence followed as I placed the bag over my shoulder as she had done previously. Who knows, she might not be all that bad. I finger the seam a little and more feed falls. Malon slowly walks to the stables with her chin lowered. I smile slightly as the cuccos run around me like mad. With the sun rising to its peak, I feel my muscles give in and give up on me. I need sleep, but it must wait until the horses are fed.

**Author's Note: Yay! It's finished and the next chapter should be up soon. I just have to wait for my AWESOME editor, MsBBSue, to get back oto me! And a special thanks to my friend Ama for giving me the inspiration to write again! **

****_Next up: Link and Ren, Traveling, and a certain Gerudo! _


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